My World (EP)
My World (EP) is Justin Bieber's debut extended play that was released on November 17, 2009 by Island Records. The album is considered the first half of a two-piece project, later being supplemented by his debut studio album "My World 2.0." After signing a recording contract in light of his growing popularity on YouTube, Justin worked with collaborators including his mentor Usher in addition to producers Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, and Midi Mafia. Its music incorporates pop and R&B styles and lyrically discusses teen romance and coming of age situations. Upon its release, "My World" received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its production. It debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 137,000 copies. In doing so, it became the strongest-debuting release for a new artist in 2009, though it was topped the following week by Susan Coyle's album "I Dreamed a Dream" which moved 701,000 units. Upon the release of "My World 2.0," in March of 2010, its predecessor peaked at number five. Less than two months after its release, the record was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales exceeding one million copies. Internationally, the extended play attained similar success. It debuted atop the Canadian Albums Chart where it was later certified double platinum. It additionally attained double platinum recognition in the United Kingdom. Two singles were released from "My World" (both of which became international successes). Its lead single "One Time" reached the top twenty in five countries' singles charts while its follow-up "One Less Lonely Girl" peaked within the top ten in Canada and top fifteen in the United States. The promotional singles "Love Me" and "Favorite Girl" peaked in the top forty of the US Billboard Hot 100. The project was additionally promoted through television appearances and the My World Tour in 2010. The remix album "My Worlds Acoustic" and compilation album My Worlds: The Collection were released later that November. The latter packaged "My World," "My World 2.0" and "My Worlds Acoustic" into a two-disc set. Album Background Justin first began his career through YouTube, posting videos of his performances in singing competitions for family members who could not attend. As his popularity on the website grew, he was discovered by his eventual manager Scooter Braun, who flew him to Atlanta, Georgia to consult with recording artist Usher. He provided him with an audition for L.A. Reid of Island Records and signed a recording contract in October 2008. In April 2009, after recording his debut single "One Time," Usher described Justin as a "young phenomenon" and "definitely a priority for me and Island Def Jam." Justin later described the record's title as "the only way he could really describe it," adding that it represented "so many elements of his world." When recording "My World," Justin expressed a desire to "grow as an artist" and have "his fans grow with him." Musically, the project incorporates pop and R&B styles, similar to the catalogs of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Chris Brown, Usher and Ne-Yo. Album Composition Entertainment Weekly described the record as featuring "sugary puppy-love ballads and dinky dance-pop confections." Justin looked to address a variety of lyrical themes, which he described as "songs that teens can relate to" and "just stuff that happens in everyday life." The introductory track "One Time" discusses an admiration of a female and a desire to become her significant other. The track "Favorite Girl" shares a similar sentiment, describing the object of his affection as his "prized possession." The ballad "Down to Earth" was inspired by the divorce of Justin's parents and was written to reassure fans in a similar situation "that it wasn't because of something they did." The song "Bigger" details an aspiration to work past the difficulties a relationship experiences. It was noted for experimenting with New Jack Swing elements that were prominent in Michael Jackson's eighth studio album "Dangerous" and was also described as a "P.Y.T. rip." Justin felt that "One Less Lonely Girl" was "really important that these girls have something so they can be one less lonely girl." The track was compared to Chris Brown's song "With You" and Beyoncé's song "Irreplaceable." The tracl "First Dance" features vocals from Usher and garnered comparisons to Jackson's song "You Are Not Alone." The EP closes with "Love Me", which samples The Cardigans' song "Lovefool" and was described by MTV News as a "widescreen club track that is full of bubbly synths and Bieber's now-signature croon." Tracklisting #One Time (3:35) (written by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, James Bunton, Corron Cole & Thabiso Nkhereanye; produced by JB, Carron, Tricky Stewart & Kuk Harrell) #Favorite Girl (4:16) (written by Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II, Delisha Thomas, Antea Birchett & Anesha Birchett; produced by D'Mile) #Down to Earth (4:05) (written by Justin Bieber, Waynne Nugent, Kevin Risto, Mason Levy, Carlos Battey & Steven Battey; produced by Dirty Swift & Bruce Wayyne) #Bigger (3:17) (written by Justin Bieber, Waynne Nugent, Kevin Risto, Dapo Torimiro & Lonny Breaux; produced by Dirty Swift, Bruce Waynne & Torimiro) #One Less Lonely Girl (3:49) (written by Ezekiel "Zeke" Lewis, Balewa Muhammad, Sean P. Hamitlon, Hyuk Shin & Usher Raymond IV; produced by Zeke Lewis, Balewa Muhammad, Sean P. Hamilton & Hyuk Shin) #First Dance (feat. Usher) (3:42) (written by Justin Bieber, Usher Raymond IV, Alexander Parhm, Jr., Ryan Lovette, Jesse Wilson & Dwight Reynolds; produced by Pretty Boi & Fresh) #Love Me (3:12) (written by Peter Svensson & Nina Persson; produced by DJ Frank E and Bill Malina) Canadian iTunes Bonus Tracks #One Less Lonely Girl (French Vocal) (3:48) (written by Ezekiel "Zeke" Lewis, Balewa Muhammad, Sean P. Hamitlon, Hyuk Shin, Usher Raymond IV and Andree Watters; produced by Zeke Lewis, Balewa Muhammad, Sean P. Hamilton & Hyuk Shin) #Common Denominator (4:02) (written by Lashaunda "Babygirl" Carr & Justin Bieber; produced by Babygirl) #One Less Lonely Girl (Music Video) #One Time (Music Video) Album Promotion Justin originally promoted "My World" through a series of radio and television appearances. In the summer of 2009, he was featured on the radio stations Z100 and Radio Disney. In September of 2009, he appeared as a presenter during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and performed "One Time" at the network's mtvU VMA Tour. In Canada, he performed "One Time" and "One Less Lonely Girl" during the finale of "The Next Star" at the end of the month. In October of 2009, Justin performed "One Time", "One Less Lonely Girl" and "Favorite Girl" on Today's Toyota Concert Series. The crowd was the program's largest of the year, surpassing that of an earlier Miley Cyrus performance. Justin appeared on television shows such as "It's On with Alexa Chung," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Good Morning America," "Lopez Tonight," "Chelsea Lately," "The Wendy Williams Show" and "106 and Park" throughout November. He also held a guest role on the Nickelodeon television series "True Jackson, VP." In November of 2009, Justin collaborated with clothing retailer Urban Behavior to host the Urban Behavior Tour. It consisted of performances at five locations across five days. The first event was held on November 1, 2009 at the Metropolis at Metrotown in Vancouver. The tour resumed on November 3, 2009 and continued through November 6, 2009 during which dates he appeared at the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, the Centre Eaton in Montreal, the White Oaks Mall in London and Vaughan Mills in Toronto. During the winter, Justin performed at several "Jingle Ball" holiday concerts. A performance as the Roosevelt Fields Mall in Long Island, New York was scheduled, but it was cancelled after it was deemed an unsafe environment due to the exceptionally large crowd of 3,000 people. In December of 2009, Justin traveled to Foxborough, Massachusetts and was featured as a guest performer for two dates of Taylor Swift's Fearless Tour. On December 31, 2009, he performed during the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest." In March of 2010, he announced his My World Tour (held in support of "My World" and his debut studio album "My World 2.0"). It started on June 23, 2010 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut and concluded on September 4, 2010 at the Great Allentown Fair in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Justin performed eighty-eight shows, sixty-seven of which became sold-out. In total, nearly 1.4 million tickets were sold, generating a revenue of over $83 million by its conclusion. Chart Performance In the United States, "My World" debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 137,000 copies. In doing so, it became the strongest-debuting release for a new artist in 2009, however, it was topped the following week by Susan Boyle's album "I Dreamed a Dream" which moved 701,000 units. In its sixth week of availability, the record moved 157,000 copies, displaying stronger sales than its debut week. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 14, 2009, for sales exceeding 500,000 copies. It attained platinum recognition on 8 January 8, 2010 after moving over one million units. After his debut studio album "My World 2.0" debuted at number one in March of 2010, its predecessor reached a new peak at number five, making Justin the first artist since Nelly in 2004 to have two titles in the top five of the Billboard 200. Internationally, "My World" enjoyed similar success. The extended play debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart where it was later certified double-platinum for sales of 160,000 copies. In Austria, the record peaked at number two and eventually earned a platinum certification for sales of 6,000 copies. The album reached number seven in Germany and was later recognized as a platinum-selling release after moving 200,000 units. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number three and attained double-platinum recognition for sales of 600,000 copies. In Japan, "My World" was certified gold after selling 100,000 units. Critical Reception At Metacritic, "My World" received an average score of 65 (based on six reviews) indicating "generally favorable reviews." Andy Kellman from Allmusic complimented the material as being "the kind of age-appropriate content that would fill out a release from a younger Chris Brown or a junior version of Ne-Yo," adding that his charisma made up for lacking lyrical depth. Writing for Billboard, an reviewer opined that the strength of the material opened the possibility of Justin "''racking up more hits in the next decade to come." Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly commended "Love Me" as a "killer electro-glam groove" and expressed a desire to see his "swagger" advance with age. The New York Times's Jon Caramanica provided a favorable review, describing "One Less Lonely Girl" as an "uncomplicatedly beautiful and earnest" track. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone selected "First Dance," "Bigger" and "Love Me" as his personal stand-out tracks from the project. Toronto Star's Ashante Infantry described Justin's vocals as those of a "young Chris Brown with overdubbed New Edition-style harmonies" adding that the production and songwriting worked well with his "earnest pubescent vocals." Writing for The Boston Globe, Marc Hirsch provided a mixed review, commenting that Justin was "indistinguishable" from the popular mainstream artists, but noted "Down to Earth" as an "essential" track from the record. Alison Stewart from The Washington Post was pleased that Justin co-wrote several of the tracks, but was less optimistic of the prominent use of Auto-Tune. Accolades At the Juno Awards of 2010, "My World" was nominated for "Album of the Year" and the "Pop Album of the Year," but lost to Michael Buble's album "Crazy Love" in both categories. Album Personnel *Ian Allen – business affairs *Zack Atkinson – art direction and design *Chris Baldwin – poster photography *A.J. Benson – A&R *Justin Bieber – lead and background vocals, writing. *Antea Birchett – writer, producer *Anesha Birchett – writer, producer *Scooter Braun – executive producer *Lashaunda "Babygirl" Carr – writer, producer *Leesa D. Brunson – A&R *DJ Frank E – producer *Blake Eiseman – recording *Dernst Emile II – producer, writer *Jaycen Joshua-Fowler – mixing *Alexander "Prettyboifresh" Parhm Jr – producer *Taylor Graves –background vocals *Christy Hall – production assistant *Sean P. Hamilton – producer, writer *Kuk Harrell – producer, writer *Rosalind Harrel – A&R consultant *Christopher Hicks – album producer *Balewa Muhammad – producer *Terius Nash – producer, writer *Waynne Nugent – producer, writer *Steve Owens – A&R consultant *Dave Pensado – mixing *Nina Persson – writer *Vanessa Price – grooming *Yolanda Ray – A&R *Usher Raymond IV – Vocals, executive producer, producer, writer *Antonio "LA" Reid– executive producer *Dwight "Skrapp" Reynolds – writer, keyboard *Kevin Risto – producer *Aaron Rosenburg – legal counsel *Todd Russell – art direction & design *Gabriella Schwartz – marketing *Hyuk Shin – producer *Tashia Stafford – A&R *Jeremy Stevenson – recording *Christopher "Tricky" Stewart – producer, writer, *Tim Stewart – guitar *Peter Svennsson – writer *Brian Thomas – recording *Dapo Torimiro – producer, writer *Antionete Trotman – business affairs *Andrée Watters – writer *Bruce Waynne – producer *Jesse Wilson – producer, writer *Andrew Wuepper – mixing assistant *Nicole Wyskoarko – business affairs Category:EPs